Note 1:
To express our evaluation of this tool in another way: If, but a year ago, we were to mount a ship seeking another place on Earth where to establish a hand-made homestead, and could take along only one gardening tool, it would have been a well made garden fork - which for 30 + years was our family's all purpose favorite. For a few jobs the garden fork is still hard to beat - but after a season of using the Magna Grecia hoe those jobs have become considerably fewer. Consequently, the gardening tool we would pack for that excursion would now be this uncommon hoe from Italy.


Note 2:

The hickory handles are custom made by a Mennonite wheelwright shop in Ontario, Canada -- the family-operated enterprise that also makes our adjustable snaths.
As is the case with most hoe handles around the world, these (much like a pick ax) are friction fitted - they slide in from the top of the tapered eye. Because the protruding "top" of the handle is larger than top end of the eye, no wedge is necessary; the head can never fly off during work, yet it can be removed in a matter of seconds (for seasonal oiling of the wood within the eye, or replacement of the handle). It is also infinitely easier to self- make a handle of this kind than for the "tang & ferule" style of attachment typically used on North American hoes.

On this note, we'd like to encourage folks to make their own handles - because doing so will eventually take you to yet another level of tool appreciation. Besides, learning more practical self-reliant skills is soon to become a major new trend...